Comeuppance for conspiracy theorists

Comeuppance for conspiracy theorists

1of5U.S. President Donald Trump waits to shake the hand of a graduating midshipman during the United States Naval Academy graduation and commissioning ceremony at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, U.S., on Friday, May 25, 2018. Trump pivoted from his abrupt cancellation of a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying it may still happen on the originally scheduled June 12 date. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergPhoto: Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg

2of5Two conspiracy theorists who claimed that the massacre that claimed 26 lives at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs didn't actually happen were charged Tuesday, March 6, 2018. Robert Mikell Ussery, 54, was charged in Wilson County with making terroistic threats.Photo: Courtesy

3of5Robert Ussery, is escorted Thursday, May 24, 2018 out of the federal courthouse after appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Bemporad. He faces a federal charge with approaching Sutherland Springs pastor Frank Pomeroy on March 5 and telling him that his daughter, slain in the November massacre, never existed.Photo: William Luther, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

4of5Alex Jones from infowars.com at Settlers Landing during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on Monday, July 18, 2016. (David Swanson/Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS)Photo: DAVID SWANSON, MBR / TNS

5of5FILE  Alex Jones, whose conspiracy theory-laden website InfoWars is viewed by millions, in Austin, Texas, Feb. 17, 2017. Five years after the Sandy Hook mass shooting, which Jones alleged was a hoax, families of the victims still endure daily abuse and threats from Jones listeners; now Jones faces three separate lawsuits seeking damages for defamation. (Ilana Panich-Linsman/The New York Times)Photo: ILANA PANICH-LINSMAN, STR / NYT

It’s been a bad week for conspiracy theorists.

On Wednesday, Austin-based troll Alex Jones was sued for defamation, the third such lawsuit filed against him by families of victims of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Jones has falsely claimed to his millions of followers that the horrific mass shooting that killed 20 first graders and six adults in Newtown, Conn., was a hoax, spurring some to harass the victims’ families.

Also Wednesday, a federal complaint was unsealed against Robert Ussery, a Lockhart conspiracy theorist obsessed with the false idea that the Nov. 5 shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs never happened.

Ussery, who calls himself “Side Thorn Journalist,” has allegedly harassed and threatened the church’s pastor, Frank Pomeroy, who lost his 14-year-old daughter Annabelle in the massacre that killed 26 people.

In addition to trespassing and resisting arrest, Ussery was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and remained in federal custody on Friday.

Meanwhile, America’s preeminent conspiracy theorist, President Donald Trump, remains in office, from which he is now peddling his latest affront to reality: “SPYGATE.”

This particular fiction posits that the “Criminal Deep State,” as Trump tweeted, planted an illegal “SPY” in his presidential campaign. In reality, this person was an FBI informant attempting to learn what Trump campaign officials knew about Russian efforts to hack into Democratic emails.

The fact that one of those officials has since pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the special counsel, Robert Mueller, explains why Trump would try to drum up outrage about the incident now, more than a year after he won the election.

“It’s a deliberate misinformation campaign to try to deceive and confuse Americans,” Rep. Joaquín Castro, D-San Antonio, said on Friday, “so that they doubt the credibility of the investigators and so ultimately they won’t hold the president accountable for whatever the investigators find he’s done wrong.”

Castro, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, added, “I think it’s his propaganda campaign to affect American public opinion.”

Castro’s use of the phrase “deliberate misinformation campaign” hits on a vexing mystery of the conspiracy theory phenomenon: Do these people actually believe what they’re saying?

That question is critical in the legal battle against Jones.

The InfoWars host is claiming his speech is protected by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court, however, has held that false speech can be punished if the critic knew or suspected it was false. That’s called “malice,” something the suit filed on Wednesday, in seeking damages for defamation, alleges Jones possessed.

I suspect that’s the case, considering the apparent purpose of Jones’ wild rants. Alongside his claims of hoaxes and “false flags,” the host hawks products in an online store — including $7 million to $12 million worth of diet supplements a year, according to New York magazine.

While garnering billions of views, Jones’ videos have allowed him to sell millions of dollars worth of snake oil. (Among the products: “Brain Force Plus” and “Super Male Vitality”.) A side effect of this nifty business model is that it goads deranged individuals into harassing victims of horrific tragedies.

Like Jones, whom he has praised, Trump once promoted questionable dietary supplements. These days, the goal of the president’s invention of alternate realities appears to be public derangement, plain and simple.

“His goal is not to win the argument or to be right,” Castro said. “He just wants people to be so confused so they don’t know what to believe, so they give up trying to sort through the facts and he wins. And everything goes from fact to argument. It’s not a matter of what the truth is anymore. It’s just a matter of which side you believe.”

Remember, though: It’s been a bad week for conspiracy theorists. The legal troubles descending on Ussery and Jones could have serious personal consequences.

Comeuppance for the country’s chief conspiracy theorist might have to wait until 2020.

“When it comes to change, there’s no substitute for elections,” Castro said. “Elections are the laundromat for bad behavior.”